


No one like you

by a_purple_pygmypuff_called_arnold1 (barbarayoufucks)



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/M, Harry Potter Next Generation
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-07-27
Updated: 2016-09-28
Packaged: 2018-07-27 03:24:18
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 11
Words: 17,319
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7601524
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/barbarayoufucks/pseuds/a_purple_pygmypuff_called_arnold1
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>SEQUEL TO "SOMEONE LIKE YOU"</p><p>After years of moving around for work, Rose gets transferred back to a *familiar* place. She is forced to mingle with people of her past. Will she be able to run away again?</p><p>(terrible summary - please read)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys, I'mmmmmmmmmm back.  
> This is the sequel to "Someone like you". The first chapter is a prologue. It's basically explaining some unexplained things from the epilogue of my last story.  
> I hope you enjoy the second installment of this series as much as i will enjoy writing it. 
> 
> Rose's PoV through out - set the morning after the Victory ball

_“And you know why that is…”_ I said.

The flash back to that morning, the morning after the victory ball (I.E. the night Scorpius was introduced to my father as my boyfriend.) was unbelievably painful.

Scor and I walked into the great hall, after the brilliant night before. We saw Al, Cam, Flossie and Ruby all sitting at the Gryffindor table.

“Heyy!” I said, sitting down on the seat next to Al. Scor next to Ruby.

“You two seem lively this morning…” Flossie commented.

“Did you get some?” Ruby cut in.

Scorpius raised his eyebrows and laughed.

I put my head in my hands and rolled my eyes.

“So…” Ruby replied, “Yes?”

I sat up and looked her straight in the eyes.

“Okay...” Ruby said, “That means yes, right?”

“Yes.” Scor said, “Yes, it means yes.”

“Tell me none of you had sex though.” I said.

The group went quiet.

“Exactly.” I said, feeling _very_ pleased with myself.

I took mouthful of cereal and smirked.

Then our attentions and conversations were turned to the imminent NEWT exams that we would be taking.

“Ugh.” Ruby said, putting her head on the table.

“ _UGHHHH._ ” Cam moaned, joining Ruby.

I rolled my eyes.

“They won’t be _too_ bad…” Flossie attempted to reason.

Scor snickered.

After a bit, a parliament of owls flew through the windows. I saw Pigwidgeon pathetically flapping his way over to the table. He was getting old. Like _really_ old.

Pig perched down on the table next to my bowl. I took the letter from his talons.

The address was written in Dad’s messy scrawl so I knew who it was from. I turned it over and saw a memo. In capital letters, the note on the back of the envelope read:

_DO NOT OPEN IN PUBLIC_

My heart stopped.

 _Okay, okay_ I thought, _It can’t be too bad._

I managed to supress every thought about the letter until I got to the dorm.

I carefully snuck away from the group, trying not to draw to much attention to myself.

“Where are you going?” Al asked, looking up from his breakfast.

“Um,” I panicked, then I came up with the *perfect* excuse, “surfing the crimson wave.”

I was face-palming in my mind.

“What?” Said all the boys in unison.

Flossie sighed, “Shark week?”

Still no sign of realisation.

It was Ruby’s turn, “Aunt Flo is visiting?”

Nothing…

I rolled my eyes. “Let’s just say that, for once, I am _definitely_ sure that I am not pregnant.” Absolutely nothing. “ _Seriously!_ ”

I walked away, shaking my head in disbelief.

I looked over my shoulder and saw Flossie and Ruby hit their boyfriends round the head.

I presume they said something like “She’s on her period.”

Scor leaned back and chuckled. Ruby promptly hit him round the head too.

I got up to my dorm shortly afterwards.

I opened the envelope and 1 piece of parchment fell out.

It read:

_Dear Rosie,_

_I am very sorry about this letter; I just don’t think I could live with myself if you never found out how I feel about this situation._

_You may be confused as to the difference between my reaction last night and my reaction this morning. I am very sorry for the misperception but I was extremely drunk last night and I was not sure of what I was saying._

_Rosie, you are my baby girl and the thought of you with a Malfoy is all too much. You are worth MORE than him!_

_I hate to make an ultimatum but you have to choose: him or your family?_

_He will hurt you and I know I may seem completely out of order at the moment but one day you will thank me._

_I am doing this for your own good. And his too, a Malfoy will never fit in with the Weasleys. Ever._

_Lots of love,  
Dad_

I felt like a brick wall had slammed into me. I was left feeling angry beyond belief.

I convinced myself that dad was out of his mind and I carried on with my day.

But that night was a different story. The letter corrupted my thoughts. But not the part you would expect. Scor would never fit in with the Weasleys. And I wasn’t willing to give up my family.

Maybe it was best for him.

I wrote back to Dad, surprisingly without swearing.

I eventually came round, but I did decide that if I wasn’t to spend the future with Scor, I was going to spend it as far away from temptation as physically impossible.

Dad wanted me to stay in London for my auror training. That’s when I got really angry. I wrote several letters to Dad telling how unreasonable he was being by asking me to leave my boyfriend and then forcing me to stay in the same city as Scor would be in.

I then came up with a compromise. I didn’t tell Dad about Australia until it was 100 percent going to happen. I wrote a resume to the Ministry of Magic in Australia. The auror department was _so_ much better there than it was in England so there were no downsides to taking this job. Within a week, I got a reply. A very positive reply.

I wrote to Dad, not asking but telling him that I was going. I was fed up of being dictated to by him.

I refrained from telling Scor and my friends so I would stop believing that it was really happening; so I could carry on being with Scor without feeling too guilty.

Plans don’t always work out like that.

Then, when Scor found out I felt too guilty so I didn’t end up telling him the real reason.

No matter how much time passes, I still feel guilty. And I still miss him. But it isn’t fair. Not for me. Not for him.


	2. "Meaningless" Moves and Mad Meetings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rose's head of office has made a surprise transfer. Scor's partner made a career-changing mistake.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Starts of Rose's POV, changes halfway through

“Sir, No. _Please_!” I begged.

“Weasley, this is not a question.” My head of office articulated, stonily.

“But Sir! Anywhere but there!” I tried.

“Weasley. This is a non-negotiable.”

“PLEASE!” I pleaded.

“Why, Weasley? Why is this so important that you don’t go to London?” He replied.

“Well, uh, its-” I started.

“Exactly!” My head said, snappily.

“Sir!”

“No, Weasley. You are being transferred by the end of this week. Pack up your flat, we will have a replacement one waiting for you when you get there.”

And with that, he hung up the phone.

UGH! I was so mad. For some reason, they thought that I was the *perfect* choice of person to get relocated.

I flopped on to my bed.

 _London,_ I thought, _Why London? Anywhere but London!_

I rolled over and buried my head in the pillow. Sometimes I could not believe that I was such a teenager. I told myself that as soon as I moved away that I would grow up and be an adult.

Not quite as easy as you would expect.

I would have to see my family. Ughhhh. I would have to see my Dad. UGH. I’m gonna have to see everyone. That means Al who will moan for me not contacting him. I’ll have to see Lily and explain to her why I couldn’t come to her graduation. I’ll have to see Victoire and explain why I missed her wedding which was the week after my graduation. I’ll have to see Dom and explain why I missed her bachelorette party. And Granny and Grandpa Weasley will be all over me and… Ugh. And of course I can’t tell anyone the real reason why I left because then they would alienate Dad – or worse, agree with him and make me relive everything I’ve been trying to run away from.

Running away. I knew it wasn’t the thing to do but it was the only thing that made sense.

I sat up. I only had a day and a half left in Rome. I didn’t know how I felt about leaving. If I took out the fact that I was returning to _London,_ I really couldn’t tell you what I was feeling. I had made a rule not to get attached to people until I was ready to stop moving around and settle down. And I was _so_ close as well but then… you know what happened.

That one kiss. That one conversation. That one look he gave me before he turned around shook me right to my core and undid everything I had been working towards for the previous two years.

Ugh.

Wait.

No.

No.

No.

In the heat of having to think about my family in this catastrophe (I am _not_ being over-dramatic) I completely forgot that a certain someone was an auror.

If this was not a massive panic attack, I do not know what is.

I lay down on my bed, elevated my feet, exhaled through my nose and inhaled through my mouth.

After 10 more minutes of this ritual, I sat up and began to start reassuring myself about this whole thing.

 _Look_ , I told myself, _you have worked in eight Ministries and all of the auror departments had multiple floors and at least 30 people on each floor. You will not be with HIM._

That managed to calm me down enough to get up and start packing up my flat.

SCORPIUS’S POV

_The following week…_

“What the actual fuck were you thinking?!” I shouted at my partner.

“I know, I know!” Dan replied, head in his hands.

I was pacing around in the corridor outside my head of department’s office.

“No.” I hissed, “You _obviously_ don’t get what you did.”

“I do, I do.” He moaned in response.

“NO!” I growled, “You _blew_ the Dolohov descendant bust; you apparated in front of muggles! What type of _stupid_ imbecile does that?!”

“Scor-” He started.

“NO! Don’t ‘Scor’ me! It’s Scorpius or, preferably, since I’m higher up than you, Mr Malfoy or Sir!”

Dan rolled his eyes. “Ok, Mr Malfoy, I am sincerely sorry but there is nothing we can do about it now. All I need is for you to back me up.”

“If you think that I am planning you on backing you up you are certifiably-”

“Remember that you don’t want a replacement partner any more than I want a suspension!”

“I am _not_ risking my job for a stupid mistake that you made. I don’t mind having to work with a different person. You are not getting off lightly!”

I didn’t get angry often but when I did, You’d know it.

I was livid beyond belief. I couldn’t believe that Dan could be so stupid.

He blew the Dolohov case by apparating in front of a muggle! How fucking stupid could someone be! We ended up having to contact Minister Shacklebolt to erase the minds of the muggle and try and erase the memories of everyone who had seen it on the internet. And because that was big news, Dolohov and her cronies now knew that the auror division was after them.

Mr Smith ushered Dan and I into his office.

“Well…” He said. I glared at Dan. Dan did nothing, “Are you going to say anything or what?”

Dan sighed. “I’m sorry, it was a fluke. It will never happen again. I promise.”

I could see how much Smith was fuming. “It was not just a fluke.” He roared, “you corrupted this case! You threw months – years – of work down the drain and all you have to say is you’re sorry!”

Dan looked at his feet. I almost felt sorry for him.

I leaned back in my chair.

“I don’t know what you look so calm about, Mr Malfoy!” Smith snarled, “It was your job to watch over this little idiot.”

“I couldn’t have stopped him, sir.” I replied, coolly.

“Hmm. I suppose not.” He said, slumping down in his chair.

There was a moment of silence.

“So?” said Dan, looking up at our furious boss, “what’s going to happen to me?”

Smith raised his head, “You’ve been issued a 6-month suspension-”

“But, sir!” Dan cut in, pleading.

“No buts!” Smith bellowed, “Now get out of my sight – you’ll get an official letter by tomorrow.”

Dan shuffled out of the office. I made my move to exit when Smith signalled for me to stay seated.

“I know that this must be very inconvenient for you, Scorpius. I do apologise for attempting to blame it on you earlier.”

“It’s absolutely fine, sir, I was supposed to be watching him.”

“Ridiculous. He’s been working her for a year now. He should’ve been able to catch a drift.”

I nodded my head. “Sir?” I began.

“Yes, Malfoy?” He replied.

“When will I be getting my new partner?”

“Actually,” He said, “They should be getting here any moment now.”

“Any useful information I could need?” I asked.

“Well,” Smith started, “I haven’t been able to see any names, genders or birthdates because of the privacy laws within the inter-continental auror departments but i do know that they are a top-class auror and they have worked within 8 different ministries, I believe one of their most recent positions being in Italy.”

My heart stopped and the muscles in my face froze.

 _No,_ I thought, _It couldn’t be…_

That’s when we heard a knock at the door. I saw nothing but a silhouette of a person at the door. The person was kind of small. So was she. But the hair was straight and flat and not at all crazy. So that was a good sign. My heart felt like it was thumping so hard it was trying to escape from my chest.

As the door handle turned my breathing became more tense and erratic.

The door gently swung open.

 _Oh Merlin_. I thought.


	3. Rookies at Re-acquainting and even worse at Explaining Absences

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Malfoy meets his new partner. Rose does too. They both have a lot to say about it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Rose's PoV for the whole chapter.

I saw the silhouette of 2 people through the blurred, stained glass of the door. One was on the larger side. That put my mind at rest briefly until I saw the stature of the second person. He seemed taller than the previous but then again, he was sitting down.

I turned the handle apprehensively.

The door swung open, slowly and gently.

My eyes fixated on the blonde sitting in one of the chairs opposite Auror Smith.

"Oh, fuck no." Those words tumbled out of my mouth before I knew what was going on.

I seemed to have startled the Head of Department; his eyes widened and he said "Excuse me?" He sounded very confused.

I went redder than a tomato.

"Merlin! I am so sorry, sir! I just... I don't know... I saw a face from the past." I glared at Malfoy.

"Ah..." Smith said, "I see that you must already know Mr Malfoy."

"One could say that..." I replied.

Smith and I shook hands. Malfoy and I cleverly diverted from having to do that.

I sat down on the chair next to ... Him.

"So, Miss Weasley, I am so sorry for calling you in like this and making you transfer from Rome. I'm sure that Scorpius will fill you in with the details, after all, he seemed like he had enough to say earlier."

Malfoy looked at his feet.

"Anyway," Smith carried on, "since you and Scorpius are new partners, you will be doing a simple dark artefact search. I'll get Lou to get the information to you by the end of the day. This means that you have a couple hours to spare. I suggest you use them acquainting -- or re-acquainting -- yourselves with each other."

"Yes, sir..." Malfoy grumbled, finally offering something to the conversation.

"Good, good." Smith responded, "you are dismissed."

Malfoy and I swiftly got up and left the room.

“You straightened your hair?” Malfoy half-asked, half stated quietly.

“yeah.” I replied, looking at the floor, not being able to look at him properly.

“You look really different.” He said.

“I know.”

Nothing else was said in the walk between the office and our desks.

Eventually the silence became so penetrating and awkward that I decided that I had to say something.

"Sooooo...." I started, walking up to an empty desk, “Is this mine?”

“Yup.” Malfoy replied without making eye contact.

I rolled my eyes and slumped down on my new chair. If he wasn’t going to make an effort, neither was I.

I picked up my bag, got out my pens, pencils and general stationary and started to strategically place it on my work place.

I proceeded to get out my one notebook, my planner and a bottle of water.

That was it. I never liked to have too much on my desk, it was easier that way for when you had to move.

I leant back, twizzling my thumbs and looking around the office area.

The office was nice. The view was great; tower bridge and the shard in the distance. The floor itself was roomy and well set up. It was nicer than Rome. Rome was crowded. Rome was _way_ too hot and the view was boring.

I looked over at Malfoy. He was typing furiously on his computer.

I pulled out my login from my planner and entered it into the computer username thingy. It worked.

I didn’t know what I was supposed to do so I looked over at him again. He had turned to playing with his phone. He probably had no work to do either.

I suppose it was good that he didn’t want to “re-acquaint” himself with me. After all, in six months’ time I would be heading off to somewhere far from here.

 _Maybe New York?_ I thought to myself, _you should check out if they have any positions in their ministry._

I was so eager to get out of this place that I had already began planning where to work next.

I picked up a pen and my notebook and started to write out a game plan for the next placement. It was quite easy. I had figured that if I don’t tell anyone that I’m briefly in London then no one can tie me down to any arrangements and that would leave me being able to leave whenever I want. Granted, I would have to tell Malfoy not to tell anyone. But who would he tell? Oh, fuck. Was he still in touch with Al? Were they still friends? Looking back on it, I don’t think that I had spoken to Al since the Christmas following graduation. I think that was the last time that I had seen anyone in my family apart from Mum, Dad and Hugo… And at that time, Malfoy and Al were definitely still _very_ good friends.

By that point I was loudly chewing my pen very vigorously. Coping mechanism. I’ve had it as long as I can remember.

I was high-key stressing. Then Malfoy piped in with this _very helpful_ comment:

“Haven’t you outgrown that disgusting habit yet?”

I glared at him, “No, haven’t you grown out of being an arsehole yet? Is that why your partner got suspended? Was he so fed up of you?”. Maybe I was being a bit harsh. I was just so mad at this situation. It was so unfair, inconvenient and just really, _really_ unlucky.

“Ouch.” Malfoy replied, “Remember I’m not exactly thrilled about this partnership. Dan apparated in front of muggles; he blew the Dolohov case. I’m fairly sure he didn’t do that because of me.” I rolled my eyes “And anyway, what do you have to be angry about? Well, obviously, seeing me is _way_ too hard. But maybe if you turn the tables, you’d have an idea of a fraction of what I’m feeling.”

I widened my eyes, “Malfoy,” I hissed, “don’t you dare pretend that you know what provoked me to leave and how that affected me. I haven’t seen my family for over two years because of it-”

He rolled his eyes, “Al was telling me about it the other day-”

“Shit!” I cut in, scrambling to find my phone in my bag, “No, no, no, no, no.....”

I grimaced at the sight of 5 missed calls from Al and 4 from a number that I presumed to be Flossie’s. I only had contacts I needed on my phone. I was still confused as to why I had Al’s all of the extended family’s. It’s not like I ever used them. I suppose it was because of *family ties*. I may have deleted my whole contact list when I moved to Australia. It was easier that way. It’s easier to forget about something if all ties are cut. Especially if those ties were in a relationship with the best friend of the person that you couldn’t forget about.

I also had 7 texts from Lily, 15 from Auntie Ginny and a combined 80 from Mum and Dad.

I put my head in my hands. I was getting dizzy and light-headed. Second panic attack in one week.

Malfoy was sitting in his chair, looking around nervously, probably wondering whether to get help or not.

After a while of controlled breathing I lifted my head.

“Ar-ar-are you okay?” He stuttered, “I didn’t mean to-”

“Why” I cut in, “did Al tell _everyone_ that I am in London?”

Malfoy looked confused, “I don’t know; surely they all already know-”

“No.” I hissed, “no one did. I told no one.”

His eyes widened with the realisation of what he did.

“I am so sorry, Rose-”

“Don’t call me Rose!”

“I thought Al knew so I texted him asking why he didn’t tell me.” Malfoy tried to explain.

I put my head back in my hands, “Are him and Flossie still an item?” I asked, trying to get more information as I could’ve been living under the sea for the amount I knew.

“Yup.” He replied, “Stronger than ever. Ruby and Cam broke up though. Long-distance didn’t work and neither of them were willing to compromise.”

I nodded. So that number was _definitely_ Flossie’s. Oh merlin.

My phone started to vibrate like crazy. Al’s contact details flashed up on the screen. I glared at Malfoy.

“This is your fault.” I growled as I picked up the phone.

“Hello?” I said, wishing that somehow all of those calls had been pocket-dials.

“Rosie!” Al replied, “Why didn’t you tell me that you got transferred to London?”

“It was all really sudden. I meant-”

“Don’t worry about it though, at least we know now!” Al said, chirpily.

I frowned. “yeah…”

“Anyway, Flossie’s really happy that you’re back, she was thinking that you should come over to our place for dinner sometime.”

“yeah…” I said, trying to muster up as much enthusiasm as possible.

“What about tomorrow at-” He began.

“Listen, Al, I’m at work, can we talk about this later?”

“Oh, yeah, of course, sorry! Talk -”

I promptly hung up.

Malfoy was back on his computer. Once he saw that I had hung up, he turned to me.

“I _hate_ you.” I said.

He rolled his eyes, “Y’know, it was your responsibility to tell your family. Don’t hate me because you forgot-”

 _How stupid could Malfoy be?_ I thought.

“I didn’t forget.” I said, “Maybe I didn’t want anyone to know! Maybe I didn’t want to have to explain certain things to my family. Does it occur to you that maybe they were part of the reason I left the United Kingdom in the first place! Is it so bad that I thought that I would be able to get through the first hour of my job without having to tell you that it was not your information to tell whether or not I was in this city?”

“No,” He argued back, “but it wasn’t a secret for me to keep! Damn, I didn’t even know that it was as secret!”

“I suppose.” I said, leaning back in my chair. I knew that this was on my shoulders. “Al wants me to come over for dinner one night.” I moaned.

“Oh Merlin…” Malfoy said under his breath.

“What?” I asked, worriedly.

“Considering your lack of involvement in your family’s life I take it that you don’t know Flossie, Al and I live together.”

“Well that means that I am royally fucked.” I said, resting my head in my hands for the millionth time that day.

About a minute later Lou, Smith’s assistant, walked over to us with the information of our first case. The distraction couldn’t have come quicker.


	4. Confusing cases, counteracting connections and un-called for callers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rose and Scorpius work their first case together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Malfoy's PoV throughout

“Okay,” Weasley started, “this is a pretty open and shut task.”

“Yeah,” I agreed, “so… what’s the game plan?”

“hmm,” She pondered, “I think that we need to sneak into that house somehow and search for the thing that has been setting off the magical object radar.”

“No shit.” I replied, “Of course we need to get into the house – that’s a given. The question is how?”

She rolled her eyes, “I don’t know…” Maybe this task wasn’t as *easy* as I had originally thought. “Wait!” She exclaimed loudly.

Weasley rolled back to her desk and started to type furiously into her computer. I leaned over to see what she was looking at.

It turned out that the house in question was holding a fundraiser that night.

I looked at Weasley in awe. “How did you work that out?” I asked, flabbergasted.

With her eyes still fixated on the screen, she replied in a monotonous tone “I walked past that building the other day, I saw a sign for a charity event. It only just popped into my head.”.

I always knew that Weasley was slightly off and on again with her emotions but it’s hard not to take this as an offence. Let’s face it, neither of us were exactly happy about this pairing but at least I’m not toying with her like she is.

“Great.” I replied, trying not to let my emotions get to me.

“So,” She turned towards me again, “It says on the website that the event starts at half past eight. Of course, it will be ticketed so I think we should buy the tickets online and get the department to reimburse us. Sound good to you?”

“Uh-huh.” I nodded, a bit dumbfounded at my lack of knowledge.

“So,” Weasley carried on, “It’s black tie so that means we have to dress fancy. And in no circumstances can you wear dress robes. We do not want to stick out. Do you own a muggle suit?”

I chuckled, “What do you take me for? Of course I have one! I’ve been on tasks like this before.”

“Well, looking at the amount you’ve contributed to this case, I wouldn’t have known…” She said, smirking.

I raised one eyebrow.

“Um,” I started, “When do you want me to pick you up?”

“ _I’ll_ pick _you_ up at quarter past eight. I have no ammunition to let anyone know where I live. Not yet, at least. Probably not in the future… but, oh well. I’ll get details from Al.”

 _Oh wow._ I thought, _suppose it’s easier not to get attached._

I heard a knock at the door at five minutes past eight on the dot. Always like her to be scarily early.

I was still in my room so I called out for Floss to open the door.

I heard the creaking of the opening door followed by a lot of squeals.

I rolled my eyes.

After about a minute, the squealing subsided and I decided that it was safe to venture out into the living room.

I was dressed in a humble, grey suit. I looked pretty good. Not gonna lie. But I was nothing compared to Weasley. She was wearing a long, dark green dress that fit her perfectly.

 _Wait,_ I thought, _Don’t do this to yourself, Scorpius. You know that she will be permanently gone from your life in 6 months so DON’T GET ATTACHED._

“Hello.” I said, trying to hide the argument going on in my head.

Weasley and Flossie didn’t seem to notice me – they were too engrossed in their conversation to realise that _some of us_ had a job to do.

I coughed purposefully to try and get some movement. Nothing.

I looked at my watch – they had been talking for at least 15 minutes.

“Ro-Weasley, it’s twenty past eight. We should probably head off now.” I decided to pipe in before things in the conversation got too *deep*.

Weasley looked surprised at the amount of time that had passed so quickly.

“Wow. I didn’t know we had been talking for so long. But,” She looked at her watch, “merlin, look at the time! We really have to go.”

She stood up and so did Flossie. They embraced each other in a long, meaningful hug. It was weird to watch. I mean, I had seen them do this several times in Hogwarts but this was different.

“Come by soon.” Flossie whispered.

“Okay,” Weasley replied, pulling out of the hug, realising _just_ how late we were.

I opened the door and ushered Weasley out.

 _Finally!_ I thought.

We walked down to the end of the hallway.

“For someone who didn’t want anyone to know that she was in London, you seemed awfully happy to see Floss again… just saying…”

I could hear her sigh, loudly and in frustration. “I’m still pissed at you for that by the way. Do you know that I have to go to a family meal next Sunday? That means the whole family. I could’ve done without it. That being said, Flossie is nice and I like her a lot but I don’t know if I want to make friends because, newsflash, I’m leaving in less than 6 months’ time.” She replied.

I shook my head in disbelief. Weasley was so full of hostility it was actually hard to be around her.

Once we got to the lift we checked for muggles and apparated into an empty alleyway behind the house.

Weasley stumbled a bit when we landed so, naturally being the son of a Malfoy, I caught her.

She stood up straighter, composed herself and grumbled something along the lines of “Thanks.”.

I rolled my eyes, “You know what? This is one night of your life that you have to spend with me and then you can go home and binge-watch Netflix or whatever you do so that you don’t have to spend time with anyone else. Just suck it up and let’s play pretend.” I said, a bite in every word.

Weasley took a deep breath in and linked arms with me.

“I suppose” She started, “that we need some elaborate backstory…”

“Maybe not elaborate but we definitely need one in case anyone asks. Why don’t we just say we met at the quidditch world cup? It’s not too detailed but not too believable, if you get my gist.”

She looked at me with her ‘Are you really that stupid?’ look. “These are muggles, you idiot!”

“oh yeah.” I said, chuckling at my stupidity.

“Ok, so we met at secondary school and we’ve been dating since year 8. Got it?”

I nodded.

“Oh yeah,” She added, “You also proposed last night.” Quicker than a flash, she transfigured her hairband into a diamond ring.

“Do we have to-” I began.

“Yes, if we tell someone that we’ve been dating for over 5 years and there’s no ring they’ll get suspicious.”

“Ok,” I replied, seeing no point in arguing.

We walked out of the alley acting just like normal muggles and walked up the stairs to the front door.

It swung open before either of us had gotten a chance to knock.

“Oh hello darlings!” Said a woman in a black dress, “Tickets?”

“Ah, yes.” I said, pulling the tickets out from my breast pocket in my suit.

“Thank you, darling.” She said ushering us in, “My name is Natalia Hart, I am the chair of Sense, a charity for deaf-blind people all over the world. Of course, I’m sure you already knew that; drinks are in the parlour and at half past nine there will be the MP for this area speaking on how to get this charity’s aims into the news and peoples brains.”

“Thanks,” Weasley said thus terminating our conversation with that lady. She led me to the parlour. “I’ll have a gin martini, please.” She said to the bartender.

“Ro-Weasley, what are you doing?” I asked, confused.

She chuckled, “Aw, you don’t honestly believe I’m going to get through this evening without one drink?”

“Weasley, we’re working!” I had to whisper/shout.

“Okay…” She sighed, “when did you get so old?”

I narrowed my eyes at her.

We slipped out of the parlour and started to search the closest rooms.

“Nothing in here!” Weasley calls out from a dressing room.

“Nothing here either!” I called back from the study.

We met in the hallway, both with our wands out.

“Upstairs?” I asked.

She nodded in agreement.

We had checked the whole house and found nothing.

“What are we doing wrong?” Weasley moaned, slumping down on to a step.

“I don’t know!” I said, sitting down next to her on the step.

“These are the easiest tasks to fulfill, I have done thousands of them since becoming an auror. Why can I not find a bloody magical object?” She muttered.

“Wait!” I exclaimed, “When you were telling me about this house, you said that it was built in the 1700s and that there was no documented evidence of inhabitation until the mid-1800s.”

“Yes?” She said, exasperated and unenthusiastic.

“Do you remember that History of Magic lesson in 5th year when you hexed me for, and I quote, “being an arrogant arsehole”?”.

I saw her smirk and chuckle, “That was funny.”

“For some maybe…” I replied, “but the reason we were fighting was that you lost a mark on a question. And that question was “What differentiates a muggle house and a wizarding house if they were both built in the 18th century?”. You, who were very tired, wrote “magic” because you couldn’t remember the answer.” I chuckled and so did she. “but I wrote that wizarding houses built in the 18th century have chambers-”

I saw the moment when Weasley realised what I was saying. “They have chambers built so deep underground that muggles couldn’t get to them!” She shot up and started running down the stairs. “Malfoy!” She called, “You are a genius!”.

 _Finally,_ I thought, _she has seen it!_

The chambers weren’t so difficult to get into: you had to go into the cellar and use the alohamora charm on a baseboard.

The chambers were dark, humid and, well, oppressive.

“Lumos maxima.” I whispered, producing a large beam of light to pour from my wand.

The walls were an off-white. The floor was paved with black and white hexagonal tiles and there were beams seemingly holding up the ceiling.

“Specialis revelio.” Weasley whispered.

Suddenly a loose tile began to glow and vibrate to the beat of a pulse.

“I think we have it!” Weasley called.

I rushed over to her and cast the unsticking charm on the tile.

I pulled it up and underneath was a glowing opal necklace. Weasley went in to touch it.

“No!” I exclaimed, producing a pair of ministry gloves and a bag “wear these and put it in this.”

She took the gloves and cautiously took the necklace and placed it into the bag.

We made our way back up to the house. Luckily by this time, everyone was listening to the speaker and Weasley and I were able to slip past them and out of the front door.

We apparated to the ministry and gave the necklace to the misuse of muggle artefacts department.

“I’m sorry, Malfoy.” Weasley said as we left the building.

“What?” I asked, confusedly.

“I know I’m being hostile and a bit of a pain in the arse to work with but it’s hard to be back here. It’s not even you. I made a choice 3 years ago and that was to leave everyone behind and then I was forced to come back to the place and people I ran from.”

I looked at her solemnly. “It’s okay.” I responded, looking at my feet.

“anyway,” Weasley continued, “I should get home; I’m tired.”.

“yeah, it is past midnight after all.”.

We said our stiff good-byes and apparated home.

I walked up to my door and yawned. I pulled out my key and let myself into my pitch black flat.

I turned to switch on the lights and jumped.

“Lexi!” I half-whispered, half-growled (Flossie and Al were clearly asleep), “What the fuck are you doing here?”

She was sitting on the sofa, staring into thin air. She looked tired and her eyes were bloodshot.

“Scorpy, please! Hear me out, listen to my side of the story!” She begged, pathetically.

“No. I don’t want you here, I don’t want to hear your side of the story! You are as good as dead to me. When will you realise that you have nothing to do with me or my life? Because it’s taking way too long for my liking!”

“Please!” She started to cry.

“Why, Lexi? What can you possibly say to me that would make it all better?” I hissed back.

“I – I – I” she began to stutter, “I don’t know. Just five minutes!”

“Five minutes?” I reiterated sceptically. Nothing with Lexi took 5 minutes.

“Five minutes, you can keep time if you like.”

“Ok,” I agreed for some inane reason, “just five minutes.”


	5. Homes or Happiness and Dubiosities of dishonesty

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Family dinners - yay?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Rose's PoV then Flossie's

The following Sunday rolled around way too quickly for my liking. Before I knew it, my alarm was blaring and it was time for me to apparate to the burrow.

Most of the people who were going to be there I hadn’t seen since the Christmas after graduation 3 years ago. I did not feel like small talk. Or deep conversations either. But, somehow, I knew someone was going to ask me why I left and why I didn’t come to any holidays back at ‘home’. I say ‘home’ but to many people home is a place. To me, it’s more than just a place, it’s where you can collapse and be your worst you without anyone judging. Home is not a place for me, it is, and has always been, a feeling.

 _Merlin_ I moaned in my head, _Why me?_

At this point in time, I don’t think I could have possibly hated Malfoy more.

I looked at my watch, it was twenty-nine minutes past six. I really had to go.

I pictured the crooked architecture of the burrow. I shut my eyes tight and clenched my fists and shortly after the horrible sensation of being squeezed through a tube, I had arrived in front of the burrow.

I took a deep breath in and walked towards the front door.

I lifted my knuckle to knock on the door but before I was able to go through with it, the door swung open and there was Granny, beaming with happiness.

 _Okay,_ I thought, _it’s just one evening, and look how happy everyone else is._

That seemed to work. Granny embraced me into a rib-crushing hug. That was nice; I had missed those.

We then went into the living room. The _whole_ family was there. Like everyone. Oh, and everyone’s significant others as well. So that meant double the people to meet and greet and hug and… ugh…

Everyone was eager to hear about Greece and Italy and Australia and Düsseldorf and, well, everywhere else.

I walked up to James. He, like myself, had no one with him.

“hey Red!” He said, chirpily.

I rolled my eyes at his insistence to call me that, “Hey James, how’s life?”

“wait, what?” He nervously chuckled, “The last time I called you Red you put me in a headlock.”

“Yes,” I sighed, “but after 21 years of trying to stop you from calling me that, the ammunition to keep trying has kind of died down.”

James grinned, “I knew you’d succumb. Anyway, life’s good. I got traded to the Wimborne Wasps a month ago. The team is really good and we have lots of sponsors so we have good conditions in the actual stadium to practice. What about you, Red?”

“Life’s… okay. I’m not _thrilled_ to be back in London but I’ll make the most of it. At least this Ministry’s auror department is a good one.” I replied, weighing the pros and cons in my head.

“Well,” James replied, “At least you have me when you’re in London!”

“Yeah.” I half-chuckled, half-sighed.

After that I went to talk to Al. He was lounging in an armchair, a glass of rum and coke in his hand.

“Hey.” I said, sitting down on the sofa next to him.

“Hey.” Al replied, seeming to be lost in his own thoughts.

“What’s up?” I asked, slightly confused.

“Nothing.” He said, glancing at Flossie who was across the room playing with Victoire’s and Teddy’s toddler, Ollie.

“Really?” I said – I was sceptical.

“Really.” He replied.

“Sounds like there’s trouble in paradise to me…” I said in a sing songy voice.

“Well there isn’t.” He replied to me, getting slightly annoyed.

“Okay then,” I said, getting up, “what _ever_ you say…”

After a while of socialising we all sat down to dinner.

“So,” Granny said, “How do you like working in the ministry?”

“Yeah, it’s good.” I started, “I’ve already had 2 minor cases, I’m hoping for bigger ones but for six months I figure they don’t want to give me long lasting cases.”

“Only six months?” Granny said, looking a little hurt.

“Sorry, Granny. It’s just a transfer, but look on the bright side, I’m here ‘til January so I’ll be here for Christmas.” I said, trying to lighten the mood.

“I suppose.” She sighed.

Granny had made a traditional Sunday roast and, my favourite, banoffee pie. It was really, really good.

Flossie was sitting next to me, pushing the food on her plate around with her fork.

“What’s up?” I asked her.

“Nothing.” She replied.

“Really, because Al seems a bit out of it too. Is there anything going on?”

She sighed, “That’s it, I don’t know what’s going on. This past week he has been very secretive and weird. It’s not like him.”

“I’m sure everything will turn out fine.” I said, not quite believing it myself.

If Al was cheating on Flossie, he was in for a massive surprise. She is possibly the best person on this earth and for him to think he can do better is just insane. To be honest, she is already _way_ out of his league.

It was getting late and Al, Flossie and I were just on our way out.

I gave Flossie a quick hug and whispered “Don’t worry, things will work out, trust me.” In her ear.

FLOSSIE’S POV

I watched Rosie walk away. She used to _always_ be able to make me feel better. This time was different though. I don’t know why but I had this niggling feeling in the back of my head that Al was hiding something.

“Um,” He started, “Grab my hand and we can do side-along apparation.”

“Okay…” I said nervously, something didn’t seem right, nevertheless, I trusted him so I grabbed his hand.

We arrived outside of our front door.

“What are we doing here?” I asked, “Why didn’t we just apparate into our flat?”

“You’ll see…” Al said, looking anywhere but at me.

We walked up the steps in complete silence.

Eventually, we got to our flat’s door and I decided that I couldn’t take this anymore.

“Stop, Al!” I exclaimed as he was fiddling with the lock on the door. He dropped the key. “What is up with you recently? You’ve been so secretive and closed off lately; is it something to do with me? Are you bored of me? Am I the problem-” Al started to fiddle with the lock again. “Can you stop that and hear me out!” I practically shouted.

The door opened slowly.

I gasped, there were rose petals strewn across the floor and there were candles in lanterns floating in mid-air. The room was dimly lit but still bright enough to see the vividness of the rose petal’s shade of red.

With my eyes still fixed on the handy work, I stuttered “A-A-Al, this is incredible. You knew we needed a romantic night in.” My fingers were tracing the patterns on the lanterns.

“Turn around.” He said casually.

With that I slowly turned to face him. But instead of facing I was looking down at him. He was on the floor. He was down on one knee, holding an open, red, velvet box containing a beautiful diamond ring.

No words could explain how I felt in that moment.

“Flossie, I have loved you since the day I met you. I could never be bored with you. I love you to infinity and back a million times. Florence Mary June Boot, will you do me the honour of being my wife?”

Tears were rolling down my cheeks. Any words I made couldn’t have been any louder that a whisper. “Yes.” I said, my voice quivering.

Al stood up and kissed me and kissed me and between kisses, he slid the ring on to my forth finger and carried on kissing.

“I…” Al began to say between kisses, “love… you… so… so… much…”

I was crying and smiling and kissing him back, “You don’t even know the half of it."


	6. Post-proposal Cuteness

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> OK, If you read my last fic you would know that sometimes Dobby_is_the_father would write me a chapter and I would write one on her marauder's fic Life before Death. So, she's back! My awesome, amazing, fabulous, smart, funny, Hufflepuff Best friend wrote this quite frankly astonishing chapter on the post-proposal fluff. Check out her fic for a chapter i wrote too.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Flossie's pov

Flossie's POV  
Despite having done so almost every day for the past two years, my heart still skipped a beat when I turned in Al's arms to face him. He looked peaceful when he was asleep, a slight smile echoed on his motionless lips. I carefully disentangled myself from his embrace, and checked the time. 6:55. My alarm went off in twenty minutes. No use in going back to sleep. I moved to sit on the edge of the bed, and heard the mattress creak behind me. Before I could turn around, Al's arms were wrapped round my waist.  
  
"Morning, beautiful." He rested his head on my shoulder.  
  
"Morning." I grinned, moving to kiss him.  
  
"Do you have to go to work today?" He moaned, pulling away from me.  
  
"Unfortunately, yes." I sighed, standing up to find myself some clothes. I could hear him moving around as I did. Just as I pulled a pair of jeans out of a drawer, I heard the phone sound the dial tone.  
  
"Al, what are you -" I started.  
  
"St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries, how can I help you?" A nasally voice on the other end of the line interrupted me.  
  
"Hello, I'd like to report a staff absence." Al replied.  
  
"Al…" I hissed warningly.  
  
"And who would that be for?" The St. Mungo's receptionist asked.  
  
"Healer Florence Boot. She's unwell."  
  
"Okay." There was a considerable pause. "We here at St. Mungo's ask that Healers working at the hospital do not return for 48 hours after illness to stop the spread of contagious diseases." The voice said, rattling it off tiredly like she'd said it a million times.  
  
"That should be perfect." Al grinned smugly.  
  
"And may I ask who this is phoning?"  
  
"Her fiancé." I couldn't help but grin when he said this.  
  
"Name?"  
  
"Albus Potter."  
  
"Thank you. We look forward to seeing Healer Boot on Wednesday morning." The receptionist droned. Al hung up quickly and jumped out of bed.  
  
"You are insufferable." I shook my head disbelievingly as he circled his hands round my waist.  
  
"Am I not allowed to spend a day with my fiancée?" He looked mockingly outraged.  
  
"Fiancée, huh? I like the sound of that." I murmured. I looked down at the ring resting on my fourth finger. He took my hand in his and grazed his fingers over the small silver band. "Wait a second." I frowned. "What about your work?"  
  
"I got Scor to phone them last night." He said absentmindedly.  
  
"That reminds me - where is Scor?"  
  
"Oh, I persuaded him to leave us alone for a few days. Now quit trying to find flaws in my plan and kiss me." I rolled my eyes and gladly obliged. He pulled away after a brief kiss, and I whined in annoyance. He smirked that incredibly irritating yet utterly irresistible smirk of his, and I tried to lean in again. He held me far enough away so that I couldn't get to him. Suddenly, he pressed his lips to my neck and began kissing and sucking gently on my pulse point. His lips became more and more insistent, frantic even, and he pushed me up against the wall so as to gain better access to my throat.  
  
He trailed a line of open-mouthed kisses along my jawline, until he finally reached my mouth. He pressed his lips to the corner of my mouth tantalisingly softly. Tired of his teasing, I quickly flipped him round so I had him pressed against the wall, and smiled into a long, passionate kiss. We collapsed onto the bed in a tangle of limbs, and all I could think was 'thank Merlin he sleeps shirtless.'  
  
That selfsame evening, we were lying on the sofa, my head resting on Al's chest. I could hear his heartbeat, steady, soft, grounding. His fingers were playing absentmindedly with my hair, as we watched the third episode of Sherlock. It's considered an 'old' show now, but I still much preferred it to many of the meaningless newer programmes churned out by small Hollywood companies. I had seen Ruby on telly the other day. Just a bit part in Doctor Who (still going after all these years) but it was something. Nice to know her career had been kick-started.  
  
I started playing with the ring on my finger, twisting it and inspecting the tiny red gems set into the metal. I lifted it off, so as to get a closer look. I noticed something I hadn't noticed before - tiny words etched into the inside of the band.  
  
Never have I ever loved someone more than you.  
  
The words were minuscule, so as to fit them all in, but just legible. I looked up at Al, tears filling my eyes.  
  
"Al…" I whispered. He looked down at me, having been previously distracted by the TV. "The inscription…" I gestured towards the ring. He broke into a bashful smile.  
  
"Yeah… d'you remember? Your birthday, seventh year. We all played never have I ever…" he laughed a little. "And Rosie laughed a me for being a virgin."  
  
"Bitch." I grumbled.  
  
"And so I stormed out." He continued.  
  
"I remember being secretly glad." I added, guiltily.  
  
"You took my virginity in the end." He chuckled.  
  
"I got what I wanted. November the eighth, 2023." I sighed at the memory.  
  
"Best night of my life."  
  
"Because you lost your virginity?" I smirked.  
  
"Because it was the first night of the rest of my life with you." He leant down to kiss me softly.  
  
"You - are so - cliché." I mumbled between kisses.  
  
"You love it." He grinned.  
  
"I love YOU." I rolled my eyes.  
  
"I love you too."


	7. Best man-ship, collosal cases and melancholy memories

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They have a massive case and it's all resting on Weasley's shoulders

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Scors pov

_Oh no,_ I thought, _oh no, oh no, oh_ _no!_

My alarm hadn’t gone off and I could tell that I was already super late.

I turned over to look at the time.

 _Ah, fuck._ I thought. The alarm read 07:17. I had to be at the office in 13 minutes. I leapt out of bed and ran to the bathroom.

The door was locked. Fuckity fuck. I banged on the door with my fists.

“Move! Flossie, hurry the fuck up!” I shouted, “I’m late and everyone knows how Weasley is annoyingly anal about time! And it doesn’t help that it’s a Friday because that’s case assigning day!”

“One moment.” Flossie called back, almost relaxed sounding.

“Not one moment, now!”

“Okay, okay… someone needs to take their chromium picolinate before interacting with other human beings…”

“What the actual healer fuck is that?” I asked.

“it’s a _muggle_ remedy for stress relief.” She said, opening the door and revealing her _and_ Al. I tried not to think about what had happened in the shower that I was now going into.

“Hey mate, I gotta talk to you about something.” He said, Flossie squealing.

“Erm, yeah, sure, it’s just that I’ve gotta be at work in…” I looked at the clock, “Fuck… nine minutes!”

“Okay,” Al replied, “I’ll catch you on the way out.”

I then rushed into the bathroom and shut the door.

I was so late that I ended up brushing my teeth whilst in the shower, peeing. Don’t lie; We all do it.

I was dressed and ready with 2 minutes to spare. I closed my eyes and squeezed my fists tight… And then Al decided it was the *perfect* time to talk.

“Scor!” He said, trying to catch me before I left.

I sighed inwardly, “Yes?”.

I was tapping my foot on the ground and fiddling with my hands. Weasley was going to have a fit when I turned up at work so late.

“So…” Al started, taking his sweet time, “Well, um, we’ve been friends for, erm, 10 years now.”

I nodded, getting slightly impatient.

“So, um,” He carried on, “I was wondering whether you… Merlin this is way harder than I thought it would be, uh, do you want to be my best man?”

I smiled. Fuck Weasley! My best mate had just asked me to be his best man, so what if I’m late?

“Of course. I’d love to be your best man!” Al grinned stupidly. I could hear Flossie squealing through her bedroom door. She was like that.

“So…” I continued, smirking, “does that mean I get to plan the stag do?”.

“yes.” Al whispered.

“Why did you whisp-” I started until Flossie cut in.

“No strippers.” She said, fixing her earring whilst tying up loose ends, “Love you.” She beamed to Al, giving him a peck on the lips and apparating away.

I looked at my watch and noticed the time. “Oh shit…” I grumbled, “your psycho cousin is gonna freak.”

“You chose to sleep with her for the best part of our NEWTs.”

Ouch. That hit me hard. It wasn’t painful but it hit me harder than a tonne of bricks. I didn’t even know why… I was very aware of everything that had happened but, I don’t know, I felt like me and Weasley were finally getting back to where we were before the whole relationship thingy.

“Ah, crap!” I was really, _really_ late now.

I apparated into the office.

Weasley was fuming.

“Where the fuck were you, Malfoy?” She hissed.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry. It’s just that-” I started.

“Not now, Lou said that Smith has a big case to assign us.”

“Fuck. I chose the worst day to be late.” I said, trying to make a joke.

“Actually, Malfoy, I really don’t care at the moment, I just want to know what the big case is.” Weasley snapped.

She marched off towards our head of department’s office. I sighed; she was pissed.

“Good of you to join us, Mr Malfoy.” Smith said mockingly, “I believe Miss Weasley has informed you of the circumstances?”

“Um… she told me that there was a big case and we were assigned to it… but otherwise I have no other information.”

“Don’t worry,” He said, ushering for us to sit down, “Weasley didn’t have any more information.” He nodded at her; she turned to smirk at me, as if to say ‘I told you so’. She really hadn’t changed.

“So,” Smith carried on, “as you’ve heard, we have a big case on our hands and we need 2 of our best aurors on the job.”

“But, sir,” Weasley started, “Malfoy and I have only been aurors for 3 years, surely there are people with more experience?”

“Yes,” Smith replied, “There are people with more experience than you and Mr Malfoy however you two have solved more minor cases in the last two weeks than some people have in the last two months.” That made me smile. “I believe that this is down to your somewhat unique attitudes towards each other.”

I tensed my shoulders and I saw Weasley’s eye twitch. I tried not to look at her, after all, I knew what she was thinking.

“Sir?” Weasley began.

“Yes?” He replied, suspicious almost.

“How long will this case be?” She asked.

“Ah, I thought you would ask that.” He chuckled as Weasley looked at him worriedly, “we project it to be about 10 months to a year so that would mean we would have to borrow you from the MUN [ministry of united nations] for a bit longer than anticipated. Of course, you are able to decline, Miss Weasley however you need to make your decision soon because if you choose not to take on this case it would mean I would need to form a new partnership. I’ll give you and Mr Malfoy a moment alone to discuss.”

I was kind of stunned by how quickly that all happened. Smith left the room and I looked over at Weasley. She was wringing her hands. I went to ask the question on everyone’s mind.

“Before you ask,” She said, looking at her lap, “I don’t know what to do.”

I wasn’t a hundred percent sure that Smith would let me do the case without her but I knew I couldn’t influence her decision. *sigh*

“Ok,” she started thinking out loud, “If I stay I will have to go beyond the duration that I was promised, that means more time to get attached. If I go I will miss out on the case of a life time.”

“Sounds like a hard decision to make…” I mumbled.

“You wanna bet?” She chuckled numbly.

It went silent for a while.

“Sco- Malfoy?” Weasley said.

“Yeah?” I replied, trying not to smile at her use of my first name.

“What should I do?” she whispered.

I sighed, “I can’t tell you that.”

“but you-”

“No. I can’t choose for you.” I said as she sighed at the realisation “But I could help…”

“yeah…” She sighed, “okay.”

We ended up writing a pro-con list.

After 2 or 3 minutes the anti-case side was in the lead by 1 point.

“Any more points, Malfoy?” Weasley asked, looking over at the clock, knowing that Smith would be back any second.

“No, not that I can think.”

“So…” She started, “Looks like I’m gonna be leaving soon, they won’t need me if they find you a new partner for this case.”

I smiled sadly. I knew that Weasley wasn’t gonna stick around. To be honest, I was gonna miss her. I know it had only been a fortnight but she had been

Smith walked back in with a folder full of papers.

He looked at Weasley, “have you made your decision?”

“Erm, yes…” She replied, sounding very uncertain

“so?” Smith prompted for an answer.

“Uh, well, can I just ask one question?” She stuttered.

“Ask as many as you like, remember we want to have you on this case.”

“Would Malfoy still be working on this case even if I was to leave?” My eyes widened at the sound of my name.

“I’m afraid not, the main reason we chose you two was because of your ability to work well together.”

I sighed. I was disappointed.

“So that would mean that I would fulfil the rest of the 6 months in my contact?” Weasley asked.

“Yes, I’m sorry, I thought that that was clear.” Smith replied.

Weasley looked at me. “I’ll do the case.”.

I had taken a sip of tea and it took all of my might not to spit it out in shock.

“Great!” Smith said, smiling.

I nodded furiously, but I was still confused as to why she did it.

“So, what’s this big case then?” Weasley said excitedly.

“Y’know the Dolohov case?” Smith said.

I nodded profusely, looking back at that moment when I thought it was all over.

“Well, there has been an abnormal number of muggle artefact cursing and at one of the scenes of the crime there was a wand. A wand that used to belong to Thorfinn Rowle, an ex-death eater who we believed was part of this operation. However, his body was found in a ditch a week before we found the wand.”

“Oh crap. This is gonna be a hard case.” Weasley said, probably without knowing it.

“Yes, Miss Weasley. You haven’t even heard all of it.” Smith carried on, “We intercepted an owl that was carrying an envelope addressed to Anastasia Dolohov. There was no address but we read the letter and it was a simple receipt for some joke pens.”

“Can’t we just trace the order of joke pens and find where the owl was going?” I ask.

“No. Because Rosier, an ex-death eater who is seeking parole, says that Rowle was planning with Anastasia a way to “reclaim the wizarding world from blood-blindness” and if we were to burst in on a small business idea it could blow the whole operation.”

Smith made a good point.

* * *

Weasley and I had had a tough, confusing, stressful day and only at half past nine were we able to leave. That was 4 hours later than usual.

“Erm…” Weasley started awkwardly, “Do you want to grab a drink?” She looked at her feet.

“Yeah, I’d love to!”

She smiled at that and we walked into the bar. We both ordered a beer and sat at the counter for a moment, realising what was happening.

“I have to ask,” I said, “what brought on all this sociability?”

“um, well, I realised that I’m gonna have to be friendly with you since we have a kinda massive case and also the whole wedding thing.”

“Ah,” I said, taking a sip of my drink, “the wedding…”

Weasley laughed, “Feeling like a third wheel?”

“No. Not really. It’s more the loud sex every night and some mornings that really annoys me.”

She laughed out loud and that made me chuckle.

“I’m the best man, y’know?” I said smugly.

“No shit Sherlock. I figured you would be best man, you’ve lived with Al for 3 years.” She replied.

“Well, I suppose you will be maid of honour…” I said, absent-mindedly.

“Oh, Merlin. She was about to ask me earlier this week when I went round after the proposal but I said I had to go after she told me that she needed to ask me something.” Weasley responded, taking a swig of her drink.

“Why are you so against it? The idea of being her Maid of honour?” I asked.

“Because I don’t want to be that person in the bridal party that no one remembers 10 years later.” She looked at her empty glass.

“Trust me,” I said, “No one can forget you.”

Weasley smiled.

We ended up talking for hours: simultaneously about everything and nothing.

I looked at the clock on the bar’s wall – it was quarter past twelve.

“We should probably get going…” I slurred slightly.

“I’m hungry though; come with me to get burgers.” Weasley pleaded, slightly drunk too.

“okay.” I chuckled.

We left the bar and got burgers and fries and milkshakes from McDonalds (a muggle fast food chain). Not going to lie, it was _really_ good.

We walked down the Strand slowly, eating and talking. Somehow, we had managed not to get into any deep conversations, but naturally that was not going to last.

“Have you had any relationships?” Weasley slurred, “Like long-term ones?”

“Yeah, only one long-term one but, y’know, also some casual flings.” I replied. I was drunk but I wasn’t _that_ drunk. I manged to hold my tongue about Lexi. “What about you?” I asked.

“No. Only flings.” She responded casually, “How far did you get with her? Like did you get engaged or anything?”

She promptly rolled her ankle but I caught her just in time, “Yeah, Lexi and I got engaged -”

“Who’s lexi?” she asked.

“Lexi was the woman you met in Rome but let’s get you home, you look shattered.”

“Okay, Malfoy.” Weasley mumbled sleepily into my jacket.

I apparated back to my flat with Weasley. I lay her down on the couch, gave her a blanket and tip-toed silently into my room.

That night I had a weird dream. Well it was more of a flashback than a dream.

_It was 3 weeks before Weasley turned up in London and I was walking home to mine and Lexi’s apartment. We were living together at that point, mainly because we had gotten married 6 weeks earlier._

_I opened the door to the flat only to see Lexi curled up into a ball in an armchair. She was crying._

_“Lexi! What’s wrong?” I exclaimed at the sight of her._

_“You’re gonna hate me!” She cried._

_“No, I’m not.” I said, trying to keep a cool head._

_“No, you really, really are.”_

_“Lexi, you’re scaring me.” I said, shakily._

_“Scorpy, I’m pregnant.” She whispered._

_“Lexi!” I cried, “That’s amazing! It’s brilliant-”_

_She looked terrified “Scorpius,” My face fell, she never called me “Scorpius”, “it’s not yours.”_

_It was as if in that moment, I could hear nothing and comprehend even less._

_I picked up my jacket and stormed out._

_I heard a muffled “Scorpius, please!” as I slammed the door._

_I apparated straight to Al and Flossie’s._

I then flashed forward to a week before Weasley came.

_I was around at Lexi’s apartment, stony and stoic. She was crying and I was trying to stay disconnected._

_“I want an annulment.” I said, looking through the window._

_“Um…” She sniffled, “Scorpy, we can work this out.”_

_“No, we can’t. All I need to know is how far along you are. So?”_

_“I’m, um, 8 weeks along.” Lexi snivelled._

_“Dammit.” I muttered._

_“What?”_

_“If you were not pregnant at the time of marriage we can’t get an annulment.”_

_“Scorpy, this is a sign.” She pathetically grovelled._

_“No, it isn’t. It just means that I’ll file for divorce after a year. Until then I want you out of my life.”_

_I turned and stormed out._

And then one last flash forward to the day Weasley returned.

_“No one tell Weasley about Lexi. I do not want her knowing and I do not want to have to disclose every detail of possibly the world’s most unsuccessful marriage.”_

_“Okay.” Both Al and Flossie replied._

I woke up in the cold sweats. Reliving the drama with Lexi always made me stressed. I began to gag and retch. Luckily, it died down within a minute. I sat up, took a gulp of water and an aspirin for the inevitable headache that was about to follow and started to breathe.

 _Breathe in_. It’s all okay.

 _Breathe out._ Lexi is gone.

 _Breathe in._ You got out in good time.

 _Breathe out._ She is not your problem.

 _Breathe in._ Your friends are here for you.

 _Breathe out._ You have Weasley back.


	8. Just sleeping?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rose and Scor answer some difficult questions

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Starts off Rose's PoV, changes to Flossie's halfway through

I woke up suddenly.

 _Where am I?_ I thought, my eyes frantically scanning the ceiling for any signs of familiarity.

I sat up slowly, trying not to vomit due to the crippling hangover, I registered where I was almost instantly. I was at Malfoy’s place.

I sighed with relief. I lay back down, shut my eyes and began to slowly drift off to sleep.

My dream was weird. Well, it was more of a series of thoughts and, I don’t know, montages? I don’t know.

The first one was almost as if it took place in an alternative universe. Instead of the pregnancy test that I took in seventh year being a dud, I ended up pregnant. I had a baby boy and Malfoy and I were very happy. Or at least seemed to be. We had a flat and jobs and everything that made us happy. When I saw that pregnancy test at 17, I thought my life was over, just now it occurred to me that maybe I would have been happier.

The scene then clouded over with dark mist. The setting changed to a new apartment and I saw Malfoy and Lexi both at the “appropriate” age with a beautiful toddler with dead straight, jet black hair tied in ponytails with red ribbons. Lexi smiled, picked the toddler up and kissed Malfoy on the lips. I shuddered at the sight of it.

I gasped and woke myself up.

 _No,_ I thought, _I am not going to be like this, I am not going to_ -

My thoughts were interrupted by possibly the most disgusting sounds on this earth. Let’s just say that Malfoy was not overreacting when he said that Flossie and Al would go at it _every_ morning.

I tried to shut my eyes and go back to dreamland. Just shutting my eyes didn’t work, I needed to have noise-cancelling headphones to block out the unbearable peri-coital moans of my cousin and best friend.

I put my fingers in my ears and tried to hum myself to sleep but that did not avail. Eventually the moans became too loud and too obvious that I hauled myself off of the sofa and, though reluctantly, walked into Malfoy’s room.

“Weasley?” He mumbled sleepily into his pillow, “What are you doing in here?”

“I could hear Al and Flossie out there.” I moaned, jokingly.

“Ah.” He chuckled.

Considering that it was only 7:30 am on a Saturday, Malfoy scooted over and signalled for me to get in. “Come on, you can’t floo or apparate if you’re tired and hungover”

I was sceptical but the fatigue in my system took over.

“Okay,” I replied, climbing into bed, “but you stay on the left and I will on the right.”

I turned to face the wall and he faced the other way.

I shut my eyes and tried to ignore the fact that I was in Malfoy’s bed, and that I had also dreamt about his would-be family with Lexi.

Surprisingly, that made it even harder to fall asleep. Well, not surprisingly, quite inevitably really.

After a while of shutting my eyes, falling deep into thought and being swiftly awakened by my busy conscience.

Malfoy had been fidgeting since I got in with him. Of course, I remembered how he slept and it was not like this at all. I think that he was having a harder time than I was.

I turned to face the back of his head.

“Malfoy.” I whispered.

He turned to face me, “Yes?” he whispered.

“Hi.”

“Hi.” He replied.

“I can’t fall asleep again” I said quietly.

“neither can I.”

I sighed.

“Do you want to talk?” Malfoy asked.

I nodded, “but what about?”

“I don’t know… do you have any questions?”

I gasped. I should explain. At the beginning of our relationship, when we were trying to get to know each other outside of platonic boundaries we would tell each other to ask questions. It kind of took me by surprise.

“Um… err…” I stuttered, a bit astounded at the déjà vu.

“It’s okay if you don’t.” He said.

“No, I do.” I replied, “Do you ever wonder what our lives would have been like if I actually did get pregnant?”

Malfoy sighed heavily. “Constantly.” He stopped, as if he was looking into the past, “Most of them ended badly; either with you and me barely talking or me not getting to see the child at all.”

“Malfoy, I would have let you see the child.” I exclaimed.

“Would you? I know that you were gonna leave if you were pregnant.”

That hit me hard because that was what I was going to do. I was going to run away. And when the real pregnancy test came back negative, I thought that I wouldn’t have to run. But I did.

“Well, I don’t know.” I whispered.

“Why?” Malfoy asked.

“Because I had a dream last night. Me and you had a beautiful baby boy with blonde hair and he was perfect. But then it got all cloudy and misty and…” My voice trailed off.

“And?” Malfoy prompted.

“Nothing.” I replied, trying to think of a new subject to change to.

“It doesn’t sound like nothing.”

“It’s just that the second part of the dream was you with Lexi and a gorgeous daughter.” I knew why I was getting worked up but I knew that I wasn’t allowed to.

“Lexi and I are over. Done. No fucking more of that crazy bitch. And anyway, I pity the fool that has to raise a child with her.” He seethed.

“I didn’t ask last night but how did the engagement end?” I asked, trying not to sound too pushy.

“Mutual differences.” He responded quickly.

“Okay.” I said, laying the subject to rest. I could tell that this had been hard for him.

By now our foreheads were touching and I could feel his breath. I quickly realised what was happening and scooted to the right a bit.

I think Malfoy got the picture because he shut his eyes and turned the other way, as if to say ‘I should sleep too.’.

I slipped into a deep sleep. I had no dream though. I suppose it was best that way.

FLOSSIE’S POV

I was lying on the couch re-reading Jane Eyre. Saturdays were always the best days because I work Sunday to Thursday and Al worked Monday to Friday so Saturday was the main day we spent together.

I was huddled up on the sofa with a blanket. It may have only been the last week in September but I was starting to feel the decline in the temperature. Al was over in the kitchen making us breakfast. I always did like a man who could cook (especially because the height of my talents in the kitchen department was spaghetti hoops on toast).

“Breakfast is ready!” Al called from the land of food.

I leapt up and went over to him. He handed me a plate with two pancakes on it.

I looked at them, then Al, lovingly. “Have I ever told you that you are the man of my dreams?” I asked jokily.

“A couple of times, I believe.” He chuckled back, handing me a bottle of maple syrup.

I beamed at him and made myself a cup of tea. I, then, walked over to the table.

Between eating and holding a conversation with Al, it suddenly occurred to me that Scor never woke up this late. He was probably still reeling from the Lexi debacle. I still can’t believe that she was pregnant and it wasn’t Scor’s. Horrible. She was a right bitch.

“Al.” I said just as he sat down, “Is there enough pancake mix in that bowl for Scor to have some too?”

“Yeah, there’s loads left.” He replied.

“Okay, I’ll go see if he wants some then.”

I got up and walked over to Scor’s door.

“Scor?” I whispered through the door.

“He’s not going to hear you.” Al _helpfully_ chimed in.

I turned around and narrowed my eyes at him.

I slowly and gently turned the doorknob and stepped inside.

I saw the cutest thing ever. I had to pinch my arm to stop myself from squealing.

Rose and Scorpius were huddled together in the middle of the bed, as if they were clutching on to each other for dear life. It was cute beyond belief.

I don’t think they can comprehend how much I actually ship it.

I tip-toed out and whispered to Al “Look over here! Scor and Rosie are just…” I trailed off.

Al followed me to Scor’s door and then, only for a moment, we looked at them and thought that they looked so happy and peaceful.

I smirked and waked towards the window. “Morning, sunshine!” I exclaimed as I pulled open the curtains.

Scor hissed at the sunlight. I chuckled; it was hard not to.

As the two of them began to realise the situation, Al and I were about to leave and make some pancakes for them.

“This isn’t what you think!” Scor said frantically.

“It really isn’t!” Rose added.

“Uh-huh…” I responded, walking out with Al.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Rose rushed out, slightly blushing.

“Hey!” I said, slightly grinning.

“It wasn’t what you think!” She said through gritted teeth.

“Okay, okay…” I said. “But Al made you some pancakes – I’m sure you are hungry.”

“Yeah…” Rosie replied, looking at her feet.

I handed her a plate and the syrup.

“Thanks.” She responded.

“So…” I said, grinning, “What’s up with scorose?”

“nothing.” She said, adamantly.

“So, what were you doing in his _bed_ this morning?”

“I stayed over last night on the sofa but then I woke up to some, um, somewhat distracting noises coming from yours and Al’s room.” I felt myself blushing. “So I went into Malfoy’s room and he said I could sleep in his bed with him.”

“Awwe.” I said.

“It was just sleeping. None of _that_ stuff.”

“Okay… okay…” I replied, trying not to burst out laughing.

Scor walked out of his room about 3 minutes after we had sat down.

“Do you want some pancakes?” I asked.

“Um, no thanks. Do you know where Al is?” He said hurriedly.

“Yeah, he just went out to get some milk, he should be back in 10 minutes or so.” I replied.

“Uh, I’m gonna go catch up with him.” Scor said.

And with that, Scor was gone.

“Anyway,” I said, taking a seat, “I have an important question for you.”

I could see Rose tense at the shoulders when I said that.

“Will you be my Maid of Honour?” I asked, almost as if I was ripping off a plaster.

“Um, well…” She stuttered.

“Oh no.” I started, “oh no… Forget I asked. It’s okay, I’m sorry-”

“Flossie, it’s not that I don’t want to be your maid of honour, it’s just that I don’t know whether I’ll be around or if you actually want me there or mainly just because I feel bad for leaving three years ago and not keeping in touch.”

“I don’t care though.” I responded, “You’re back now and the wedding will be in mid-March so that will be just before end of the 6 months. Please.”

“Do you really want me to?” Rosie reiterated.

“yes. I _really_ want you to.” I replied.

“What about Ruby?” She said.

“We don’t talk much anymore.”

“You really want me?”

“Yes.” I answered, “I really want you.”

“I suppose it’ll have to be a yes then.” She said, smiling.


	9. spilled secrets and snogging speculations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> (sorry guys about the long wait - I'm happy about the chapter though)  
> Scor has some things to get off his chest. And maybe something that he didnt want to spill.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Al's PoV

I was browsing through the muggle newspapers at the corner shop when an out of breath Scor approached me.

“Merlin!” I exclaimed as Scor leant on the shelf of biscuits and began wheezing and coughing, “What happened to you?”

“Weasley… Need… Ask… Please!” He half-choked, half-begged (I think.)

“Dude.” I started, “What are you trying to say? I can’t understand you if you’re getting rid of articles, pronouns and conjunctions.”

Scor stood up and caught his breath.

“Um… err… Can we go outside to talk about this?” He whispered. At least I think he whispered; he may have just been _really_ out of breath.

“Okay, I just gotta pay for the stuff.” I replied, picking up a pack of chocolate hobnobs on my way to the till. “Can I at least get a hint as to what this is about? Is it waking up with Rosie? Was it like old times? How was the se-”

“We did not have sex!” Scor hissed.

“Well, okay then… But you can still have feelings for people without sleeping with them.” I responded, cheekily.

“I _don’t_ have feelings for her. Why should I have feelings for her?” He spat in reply.

“It’s not that you _should_ have feelings for her, it’s more that you just do. You can’t explain it but you do. No questions about it.”

“Yes questions about it!” Scor exclaimed, getting agitated, “I do not have feelings for her! I got rid of those feelings the moment she left me. Left _us_.”

“You suppressed those feelings. That is not the same.”

“It’s as good as. It had to be as good as.”

“Well” I replied to his slightly devastating logic, “It isn’t. Don’t you think I heard you wandering around the flat at night when we first moved in? Don’t you think that I heard the telly at half past two in the morning?”

“That was the first couple of months after graduation. I was allowed to wallow then. I don’t wallow now. I haven’t wallowed in my own futile self-pity in years.” Every word he said in response had a bite, a sting to it.

“That’s what suppression is. You still wake up at night and pace in your room. You can tell me that it is not because of Rose but I don’t have to, nor will I, believe it.”

“Suppression was telling myself that I didn’t need Weasley after she left, suppression was shoving the Christmas and birthday gifts from her to the back of my wardrobe and the back of my mind. Suppression wasn’t what you said. Suppression was the act not the effect. And anyway, that stopped at least a year ago. It stopped the minute Weasley told me to leave her alone in Rome.”

“Bull shit.” I muttered, “Why else would sleeping be to you as I like my steaks. Rare.”

He scoffed, “Nice time for an analogy.” His voice was dripping with sarcasm. “Maybe I don’t sleep much but I doubt you would either if you were married at the age of 20 to a woman, with whom you cannot get an annulment so you have to wait a fucking year to divorce, who is pregnant with the child by a man who attended the fucking ceremony! Oh, also if you didn’t forget, she was a psychopath who probably won’t sign the fucking document when the time comes. And on top of that my partner at work knows about none of that and I’m fairly sure that if she was to find out now she would be gone within the hour. She already is on a conditional contract. But of course you don’t know that. Maybe the reason I don’t want her to leave is because of these arising feelings but pretending not to get attached will be a lot easier when she inevitably finishes her contract and leaves.”

I was a bit taken aback by that whole speech. “Scor, I’m sorry-”

“Save your apologies.” He replied numbly, “Just don’t tell Weasley about Lexi. It should be me.” And with that, he turned on his heel and walked out of the shop.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“I’m sorry, Flossie…” I tried to reason with her.

She rolled her eyes and giggled, “It’s okay… Remember, I like your family.”

“I know, I know. I just feel guilty for springing this on you the moment you came back from work.” I admitted.

“As I said, I like your family; I’ve known them as long as I’ve known you!”

“But there will be loads of people-”

“I’m aware of your family.”

“And we’ll have to tell them about the engagement.”

“Everyone else knows!” Flossie cried in a mix of disbelief and exhaustion, “Al, what is your problem? Do you not want to tell them about our engagement?”

I stood there, a tiny bit stunned. “Of course I want them to know about the engagement but… I don’t know… I feel really bad for Scor?”

“You know I do… but why now?” She asked.

“Yesterday he was freaking out in the shop about Lexi and he said something that he hasn’t told us. Or at least he thinks that he hasn’t told us. It just made me think… I can’t believe it-”

“Oh my god, hurry the fuck up!” Flossie exclaimed, slightly losing her patience.

“Lexi’s baby daddy was at their wedding.”

“Fuuuuuucccckk.” She replied, “do you know who it is?”

“Not a clue and it’s really bugging me.” I looked at the floor. I really couldn’t start to imagine what it would be like to have all that going on along with having to suppress your feelings about your co-worker.

“Hey.” Flossie started, looking at me with her kind, hazel eyes, “Y’know that will never happen to us, right?”

“yeah, I know… It’s just that it all seemed so sudden and, um, quite scary really…” I faltered quietly.

“Al,” She spoke softly (like one would imagine a calm inner monologue), “I promise you that won’t happen. You are the only person for me. You have to trust me that if I was pregnant it would only be yours.”

My eyes widened. “Are you…” I trailed off, not believing what I had just heard.

“No! No, no, no, no.” Flossie clarified.

I sighed with relief. As much as I loved Floss, I was not ready to have a kid.

“No.” She continued, “We’re safe. I’m on the pill and we’ve been using contraceptive charms as well.”

I grinned. “I love you, Flossie.”

“Just because I’m organised?” She teased.

“No… I love you because you are _smart, funny,_ and _beautiful_.” My hands crept down to her waist.

“Al, we gotta go now…” Flossie said, pulling away.

I looked at my watch, “Ah fuck – you’re right!”

She grabbed my arm and we apparated to the burrow.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I stood up at the table, ready to make my big announcement.

I looked down at my family. Everyone was there apart from a few. It was still a bit daunting though.

I tapped my glass with my knife like people do in the movies.

“hi” I started quite awkwardly, “I have some exciting news…”

I heard several “oohs” and “aahs” from the ‘crowd’. Rosie smirked at me, I knew that she knew exactly what I was going to say.

“Um… after the last Weasley clan dinner I asked Flossie a very important question-”

“MERLIN!” Lily squealed, “YOU’RE GETTING MARRIED!”

I chuckled and looked at my _fiancée_ sitting next to me. Trust my baby sister to figure it out before I finished the question.

“Really?” James inquired.

“Yes, really.” I said, rolling my eyes.

Before the inevitable mass of questions, I added one last detail about the wedding.

“Also, we’ve decided on a date.” I smiled and looked at Rosie, “since Rosie has only a short time in London, we will be getting married in just a little over 5 months. I know, I know it’s soon but we just didn’t want to miss the chance of _all_ of our family being there.”

Rosie smiled coyly, “thanks, Al…” She responded, “That means a lot…”

“It’s nothing, really.” I replied.

I smiled until Roxie cut in. “Are you gonna tell us the date then?”

I laughed, “The wedding will be on Sunday the 21st of March.”

Dad stood up and embraced me in a hug. “Congrats, you two.”

“Aww…” Mum started, “My baby’s getting married…”

Granny was welling up.

After I had sat down James stood up. I turned slightly red. I knew this wouldn’t turn out well for me.

“Wow.” He started, “I didn’t think you’d get married before me, Al. Sorry about that; nonetheless I am happy for you. However, look at Flossie. Mate, you are really punching above your weight.”

I put my head in my hands whilst everyone else laughed at my expense.

“Aww.” Flossie giggled.

“Anyway,” James continued, “Now that the mandatory mocking and disparaging of the groom-to-be, I think we need to see a public display of affection…”

“What’s a public display of af-af-affection?” Ollie (Teddy and Victoire’s son) said, stumbling upon his words.

“Awwe” everyone purred.

“It’s kissing, mon cher.” Auntie Fleur answered, smiling at the 2-year-old.

“ewwww” He replied.

I laughed and, to answer James’s request, gave my _beautiful_ fiancée a kiss on the lips.


	10. Kick-started cases

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rose and Malfoy get a wake up call.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ROSE'S POV
> 
> I'm SOOO sorry that it has been almost a month since I last posted, and I'm sorry that it's not even a long chapter. I promise that I'll get back into my normal schedule again. Please like and review!

I woke up early that morning. It had gotten colder over the past couple of weeks and as I was lying in bed, I wished to myself that my central heating would fix itself so as to make getting out of bed easier. Nevertheless, the outside world (anywhere apart from my bed) felt too harsh.

I heaved myself out of bed and trudged out of my room and towards the land of the nice, _warm_ shower. As I turned the corner through the door to my bathroom, I caught a glance of my clock. It was only ten minutes to six. If it was any other day I would’ve turned on my heel and dived right back into bed. But since it was enough of a struggle to get out of bed the first time, I didn’t think getting out of bed the second time would be much easier. Well, I don’t think I’d be able to even take off the duvet.

I arrived at work half an hour before I was due in. The sun was barely up over London; as per usual the shard was just in view and the morning light was gently bouncing off of the tip.

I slumped down into my ergonomic (whatever the fuck that means) desk chair and leaned back. I pulled out my earphones and ipod and put my “Yay! 2010’s Music!” playlist. It was old, I know but I was really feeling twenty øne pilots that day so I didn’t really care what other people thought.

My hands fumbled with the annoying white wires that enabled me to listen to Blurryface. By now, everyone had Bluetooth earpods or whatever apple call them. Personally, I don’t see the point; they just seem easier to lose.

I slipped my earphones in and shut my eyes, after all, I had over twenty minutes to relax until Malfoy got in.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Weasley!” I heard a muffled voice exclaim.

I jumped after opening my eyes and seeing a finger clicking about two inches from my face.

“Fuckin’ hell, Malfoy!” I screeched, “Don’t you dare laugh, you prick!”

He sat down and chuckled smugly. I scowled at him. Malfoy’s smile quickly shrunk. I love how I have that power over him. Well, over anyone…

I logged on to the computer to see if we had any new news on the big case that nothing’s happened on. I was actually getting annoyed at this point in time. The case was supposed to be big and labour intensive but so far it had just been a few pieces of paperwork and I was eager to get this case over with.  I mean, I loved Flossie and Al and I actually had really liked seeing my family but that was what I feared. I feared being too happy here. I feared the idea of not wanting to leave at the end of this case so the sooner I get to get on with the case, the sooner I can leave.

I was lost in that seemingly endless stream of consciousness until Malfoy tapped me on the shoulder. I looked up to see an unusually serious expression on his face. His eyes lacked the cheek that I used to laugh at.

“Malfoy?” I queried, nervously, “what’s going on? Has something happened? Are you okay?” The questions spilled out of my mouth like verbal vomit.

“Don’t worry, I’m fine but Smith just sent me an email saying for us to come to his office immediately.”

My eyes widened, I was confused. _Why didn’t Lou come and get us like she normally would?_ I thought.

I practically leapt out of my chair. Maybe I was a bit too eager to do some actual work. Does that make me weird? Nah.

Malfoy and I walked over to the lifts in complete silence. The ideas of what could happen were racing through our minds. Smith never used email… Only if he didn’t want anything to get out. That just made everything the more mysterious.

I stepped out of the lift, walked a few paces and arrived outside of Smith’s door.

“Hiya!” Lou said in her thick Welsh accent.

“Hey!” I replied, trying not to act like anything was up. After all, I didn’t know if she knew or was even allowed to.

I was just about to ask about her family when I was interrupted but Malfoy’s knuckles rapping on the glass. I was startled at that sound. I spun around just in time for Smith to open the door and reveal a face, unknown to me at the time.

“Ah, Mr Malfoy and Miss Weasley. Come in.” He said, ushering us into his office.

Malfoy and I walked into the room that was meticulously organised. I sometimes wondered why Smith never spoke to us at our desks. I now understand that the disorganisation of my papers and notes would probably give him an aneurism.

We stood there for a moment whilst Smith sat back down.

My eyes darted to the side; I stole a quick glance at Malfoy. He looked about as clueless as I was.

“Ah…” Smith sighed, realising just how awkward my partner and I felt, “Take a seat.” He gestured towards the two empty chairs at an angle facing the still nameless man.

Eventually, the man opposite us was introduced as Aaron Johnson, MI5 muggle-auror… I don’t know how to describe it…

Apparently, there had been a suspicious series of telephone boxes, all in London, either filling up with water or bursting into flames when anyone dialed a zero or seven.

Johnson had gotten special permission from his superiors to investigate this but the further he delved into this case, the more flummoxed he became.

After three months or so, his bosses wanted news and information on the weird occurrences and the fact that Johnson couldn’t give them anything made everything that little bit more disturbing. A couple of weeks later, the Prime minister caught wind of it and she immediately referred him to the Ministry.

And that brings us back to Smith’s office.

“So…” Malfoy started, “How do we know that this is down to Dolohov and her cronies?”

“Well,” Smith replied, “At one of the telephone boxes, MI5 collected a pen. A joke pen.”

I gasped. I remembered the first description of our case. It all started with a shipment of joke pens.

“Yes, Miss Weasley. They were the same joke pens.” He answered the question that was just forming in my mouth.

There was a silence in that moment. It wasn’t a beautiful silence like the silence when looking at a landscape. It was a harrowing silence. Every extra second it lasted was like another breath being sucked out of me.

“This is real, isn’t it?” Aaron said, almost naively, “This a real wizarding, _magic_ case…” He was on the verge of looking dumbfounded.

“Yup.” I replied. I figured he hadn’t heard of the wizarding world before this. His age was a clear indicator; he was only 25 or so and I took it that muggle children weren’t regularly taught of all the different worlds.

“This isn’t gonna be easy?...” He half-asked, half-stated.

“No,” Malfoy replied, “It won’t be.”


	11. Charmed cases

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Scorpius and Rosie get to know their new partner.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Scorpius's PoV

I gulped. I was waiting for the case to kick off because it was taking so _long_ to actually get to anything but this was a like a leap into the murky abyss. I wasn’t like Weasley, though; the delight of finally having something to do shone in her eyes.

Aaron (the MI5 muggle-auror person) looked like a kid in Honeydukes for the first time. He was really excited for this case.

“Okay…” I started, I knew we needed to get on to something instead of just going over and over the same things again, “we actually need to think up a plan. We can’t just keep letting these things happen. I know that no one has gotten hurt yet, but it’s only a matter of time…”

I had been quiet for most of that meeting, I think it must’ve kind of shocked Aaron to see the quiet, pensive side of me and then a quick transition to the ‘Ah fuck we have to get on with this’ side of me.

“Erm… yes…” stuttered Aaron.

“Sure,” Weasley added, “where should we start?”

Smith looked up from is desk, “I have a meeting in here in 5 minutes so could I recommend you start discussing ideas and strategies elsewhere?”

I chuckled and stood up. Weasley followed suit as Aaron clumsily gathered up his files and bags and stuff. He staggered out of Auror Smith’s office, tripping over his own feet and dropping his load on to the wooden floor.

Weasley smiled slightly and whipped out her wand.

“Wingardium leviosa.” She enunciated, waving her hand in a ‘swish and flick’ motion.

The books and files rose into the air. Aaron turned his head to look at Weasley in awe.

“H-h-how di- did you-” He faltered, stumbling upon his words.

Her response was simply a sympathetic laugh. I looked at my feet, trying not to laugh out loud.

“Scorp- Malfoy, go show Aaron our desks… I’ll just be a moment.” She said, handing the books from her wands grasp to me and turning and walking away.

I stood there, staring at her curly, red hair bouncing as she walked. She called me Scorpius. She was about to call me Scorpius. My breath was stuck in my throat. I didn’t know what to do. I didn’t know whether to ignore it or maybe do something… She probably thought nothing of it. It was just a mistake…  She didn’t want a relationship. AND NEITHER DID YOU!

I jumped at my inner monologue shouting at me. I realised that I must have been staring into the empty corridor for a while when I saw Aaron on his phone.

“Sorry!” I apolpogised, ~~a bit~~ very flustered.

“Don’t worry, man!” Aaron replied

We walked over to mine and Rose’s desk. I sat down and pulled the chair from an empty desk next to me.

“what’s up with you and Rose, though? The sexual tension is, well, very tense…” Aaron chuckled nervously as he sat down, “You know what I mean.”

“There’s nothing between Weasley and I, purely platonic.” I quickly rushed to spit out.

“Okay… Maybe I just read the signs wrong…”

I shrugged my shoulders.

“But you would make a hella cute couple…” He added.

“We did.” I mumbled.

Aaron’s head whipped around. “Ha! I knew it!”

 _Fuck!_ I thought, I had gotten so far without anyone at the Ministry finding out about the past.

“Don’t tell anyone…” I hissed.

That’s when I felt a hand on my shoulder.

“Don’t tell anyone what?” Weasley asked.

“Um… errr… well…” I started, clumsily spilling out time-wasters like there was no tomorrow.

“Scorpius was just telling me not to tell anyone about this case – magic or, erm, muggle.”

Weasley sat back down in her chair, “Do be careful though. People often get a bit too loose lipped when they talk about our job. Of course we can erase their memories-”

“What?! You can do that?!” Exclaimed Aaron, rather loudly. Once he realised this, he shrunk a bit and whispered “Sorry, carry on…”

“But that can get a bit tedious and if the wrong piece of information falls into the wrong pair of hands… well, we’re basically all doomed…”

Aaron chuckled anxiously. I think that that was when he realised how big this case was. Especially for a muggle like him.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

We had been writing for hours. The sun was setting over the famous London sky line but Weasley, Aaron and I still had our minds fixed on the task and our pens stuck to our pages.

I saw Weasley’s hand slowing down and just as I was about to suggest that we called it a night, Aaron’s phone vibrated and went “ping”. Or something to that effect…

“Ah…” He started, “that’s my girlfriend… I promised that I’d meet her and Nat – my daughter – after work.”

He looked almost as if he was sorry that he had to leave - even though work officially ended 2 hours ago.

“Don’t worry, mate!” I said, jokingly, “Anyway, I think Weasley is close to collapsing.”

Weasley shot up like a meerkat at the sound of her name.

I rolled my eyes and laughed.

We all packed up our stuff quite quickly and put it in the filing cabinet. I think they were in the right places because Weasley is actually too anal to handle.

The cold October air hit us like a brick wall. I shivered and pulled on my coat. I saw Aaron’s kid run at him and jump into his arms. I smiled at that sight.

“Daddy! Daddy!” Natalie squealed.

“Hey baby girl, do you want to meet my co-workers?” He asked whilst supporting his daughter in his arms.

Natalie buried her face into her dad’s chest.

“She’s shy…” Aaron chuckled. Natalie peeped back at Weasley and I. “This is Rosie and Scorpius.” Natalie looked up, gave a shy wave, and dived right back into her dad’s hold.

Along with Aaron’s girlfriend, we walked back to London Bridge station. Natalie fell asleep quite shortly after we left the ministry so her father was carrying her the whole way. Luckily, she didn’t look too heavy.

“So,” Weasley started, “how old is Natalie?”

“Natalie is going to be 4 in November… she is _very_ excited!” Mona (Aaron’s partner) laughed.

“Wow… I can remember being like that as a four-year-old!” I chuckled, “I still don’t think I could handle a child at this age.”

“Yeah, it can be hard…” Aaron said, “I mean, Mona got pregnant when we were both just 22 so it was kind of a surprise but I wouldn’t change anything. Not for the world.”

I saw Weasley smile as I did the same.

We eventually got to the station and we went our separate ways. Aaron and his family walked into the station and Weasley walked into an abandoned alley to apparate home. Just as we turned the corner, Weasley’s ankle buckled. Luckily, I caught her before she hit the ground.

“Thanks.” She laughed.

“No problem.” I sighed, smiling.

Weasley attempted to stand up straight. _Attempted_.

Just as I stopped to apparate, I heard Weasley mumble something.

“Sorry?” I said.

“Could you take me home via side-along apparation?” she asked sheepishly, “Only I don’t want to splinch myself by focussing on the pain shooting though my ankle…”

“Merlin, of course!” I replied, “Now, you do realise that that would mean telling me where you live…”

She rolled her eyes, “Yes. I know…”

I laughed, “So… where do you live?”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

With a thud, we landed feet-first on Weasley’s living room floor.

I helped her on to her couch and then took a moment to observe her place.

“It’s nice.” I said, marvelling at the paintings, “Where did you get all of these pieces of art?”

“Well, I don’t really know… I think I might have just picked them up when I was travelling…”

I nodded, still looking at the amazing colours.

Weasley yawned deeply… I took that as a sign.

“Okay, so,” I started, “are you okay if I leave?”

“Aren’t you forgetting something?” Weasley sniggered.

I racked my brain for an answer, “Um… I don’t think so…”

“Flossie asked me if you could stay over tonight, um, well, because her and Albus have “ _plans_ ””

“Oh yeah, I was just gonna get a hotel room…” I replied.

“Don’t be ridiculous!” She said, “This is cheaper and I already have a duvet and pillow on the sofa. So what do you say?”

“Actually” I started, “this would be a lot easier, as long as it doesn’t put you at a loss.”

“please,” Weasley laughed, “I actually need someone to help me into bed so it comes as an advantage.”

I grinned. It had been a while since Rosie and I had laughed like that.


End file.
